Juventus vs Barcelona. UEFA Champions League Group G.
Juventus Stadium.
Report as Lionel Messi turns on the style in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo to inspire Barcelona to a 2-0 win at Juventus in the Champions League; Messi's fine pass led to Ousmane Dembele's opener and he scored a late penalty after Merih Demiral had earlier been sent off for the hosts
Thursday 29 October 2020 07:29, UK
Barcelona put their El Clasico defeat and off-field dramas behind them with an impressive 2-0 win at Juventus in the Champions League.
While Cristiano Ronaldo's positive coronavirus test meant there was no showdown between the Juventus star and his great rival Lionel Messi, the Argentina ace still delivered a masterclass and capped the victory with a late penalty after Ousmane Dembele's deflected opener.
Barcelona had been beaten 3-1 at home by Real Madrid on Saturday and seen president Josep Maria Bartomeu and the entire board resign on Tuesday, but there were no signs of those distractions during a dominant display in Turin.
It was a frustrating night for the second-best hosts, who saw Alvaro Morata put the ball in the net three times and be denied by an offside call on each occasion, and they had Merih Demiral sent off with 10 minutes to play for a second yellow card.
The result puts Barcelona in control of Group G with two wins from two, with Juventus in second spot after Dynamo Kiev and Ferencvaros drew 2-2.
Barcelona had the better of the early exchanges and hit the post just three minutes in through Antoine Griezmann. They took the lead in fortuitous circumstances, though, when Dembele latched onto a marvellous Messi pass and then saw his drive loop up off Federico Chiesa and give Wojciech Szczesny no chance.
Juventus thought they had come up with an immediate response when Morata followed up a fine save from Neto to bundle the ball home, but he was offside earlier in the move.
And the Spaniard was denied again in similar circumstances on the half hour, tucking in Juan Cuadrado's cross only to see the flag rightly go up against him.
Jordi Alba could have doubled the visitors' advantage soon after but slashed his shot badly wide of the near post, before Messi played in Dembele for a golden opportunity.
The forward dithered, though, and saw his close-range shot blocked by Szczesny. He teed up Griezmann from the rebound, but he was also denied by the former Arsenal 'keeper, who was up quickly to make a fine stop.
Remarkably Morata had a third strike chalked off for offside after the break, following a long VAR check after he had thumped in Cuadrado's volley from close range.
Barca youngster Pedri was denied a second Champions League goal in two games by Danilo's excellent block, and the former Man City full-back pulled off an excellent tackle to dispossess Messi just after Dejan Kuvaleski and Adrien Rabiot had fired off target at the other end.
Griezmann whizzed a shot wide of the far post as Barcelona threatened for a second and their task was made easier when Demiral was sent off for a second yellow card when he left a foot in on Sergio Busquets.
Juventus gave Barcelona another helping hand when Federico Bernardeschi cluelessly bundled into the back of Ansu Fati and Messi sealed it from the spot.
Fati should have made it three when he strangely opted to pass with the goal at his mercy deep into stoppage time but by then Barcelona had already made their dominance count.
The other game in Group G saw Ferencvaros come from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Dynamo Kiev as Franck Boli equalised in the final minute.
Barcelona are away to Alaves in La Liga on Saturday, while Juventus are at Spezia in Serie A on Sunday.
